11/05/2010

Celebrating its tenth anniversary at Cannes, the team of the Estonian Film Foundation, headed by Marge Liiske, is representing four very different feature films at the Market.

The Estonian/Russian co-production Red Mercury by Andres Puustusmaa is screening this Friday. It is set in the early 90s, in a newly independent Estonia that looks like the Wild West. The former Soviet republic has become a top metal exporter in the world. A merciless fight surrounds this criminal business and Estonia has the highest homicide rate in Europe.

Produced by Kristian Taska (Names in Marble) and Jusup Bakshiev (Antikiller), Red Mercury is based on a true story written by Andres Anvelt, former head of the Estonian Central Criminal Police. It is currently playing in Estonian cinemas.

Marko Raat’s The Snow Queen is a loose adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale. The film features a charismatic 40-year-old woman who lures a teenage boy into coming with her to the ice villa where she lives as a recluse. The woman, who suffers from cancer, believes that she has to break a young boy’s heart to survive. The Snow Queen was produced by Estonia’s F-Seitse in co-production with Norway’s Pomor Film. The Market screening is set for May 16.

Buyers who haven’t yet had a chance to see Veiko Öunpuu’s The Temptation of St Tony [+see also:
film review
trailer
film profile] have a new opportunity on May 16. LevelK sold the Estonian/Swedish/Finnish co-production at this year’s European Film Market in Berlin to some key territories, including the US and Canada.

The fourth Market screening, on May 17, is Andrus Tuisk’s Bank Robbery, which opened in Estonia last October, following its screening at Montreal World Film Festival. It was produced by Filmivabrik.